• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Students seeking jobs after graduation may find comfort in knowing that economic markers indicate one of the strongest job markets in recent years.

Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com, an independent provider of economic and financial research, said workers looking for jobs “couldn’t ask for a more favorable environment,” as the current job market is the strongest it has been since 1999.

“Most fundamentally, businesses are in great financial shape,” Zandi said. “They’re looking for growth opportunities, and that means more hiring.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate as of last month is 4.7 percent, which is the lowest it has been since before the recession in 2001. Zandi said any rate below 5 percent is an indicator of a good economy.

“It’s only recently that the job market has gotten this strong,” Zandi said.

Other economic indicators such as wages and benefits have not risen as strongly yet, but he predicts that they will soon follow suit.

Edward Leamer, director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast, which publishes quarterly reports predicting economic changes in the U.S. and California, said the economy will continue to stay strong through the end of the summer.

Leamer said the job market is expected to do the same, but “within the next year, there will be significant softening (of economic growth), because of weaknesses in the housing sectors.”

Real estate sectors, including construction and broker firms, are predicted to be hit the hardest in the next six months, Leamer said.

The strength of the economy and the job market “go hand in hand,” Leamer said. Generally, there must be “significant economic growth before firms make commitments to hiring new people.”

Conversely, a decreased intensity of work and a shortened number of hours – indications of a slower economy – generally precede layoffs in a downturn.

Leamer’s advice for those currently seeking employment is to “nail down a high-paying job, work really hard, and make sure they don’t want to fire you.”

“The job market is tight,” Zandi said. “Jobs that require skilled and educated workers are begging because there aren’t enough people to fill them. Especially if you’re coming with a degree from a school like UCLA, you should be doing very well.”

But for those who do not have a college degree and cannot compete with other people for skilled employment, the job market is not so favorable.

“Broadly speaking, the economy is doing well. However, low-income workers, or those without skills and education, will have a hard time, and will continue to,” Zandi said.

The national unemployment rate for people over the age of 25 without a high school diploma is 7 percent, compared with 2.2 percent for people who have a bachelor’s degree or higher, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While both of these statistics are at their lowest since 2001, the numbers reflect what Leamer calls the “Hollywood-style” economy, “where there are real stars, but where there are also a lot of other people struggling.”

Wage growth is above the rate of inflation for those with higher-income jobs, Zandi said, but this is not the case for workers who are working in lower-income jobs.

Leamer said this increasing disparity between people who do well and those who do not emphasizes the importance of a person’s “talent, education and hard work.”

Especially in an age where technology is rapidly taking over jobs that previously required human labor, the job market is looking for people who have “creative and innovative features that cannot be replaced by computers,” said Leamer.

“Each person has to bring to the job market something that is distinctive, something that he or she is really good at that not everybody can do,” Leamer said. “The job market of the future is going to emphasize this.”